Under-19 emerging sikh cricketers

ExpandCollapse

SPNer

Have you heard of Dalli Rajhara? No, he’s not a person, or the name of an exotic dish found in pretentious restaurants. Dalli Rajhara is a town in Chhattisgarh, with the most recent census pegging its population at just over 50,000. It’s an area rich in natural resources, with iron ore deposits first being discovered in 1900, and is home to India’s largest integrated steel plant. It’s also home to a rare breed of Indian cricketer, the seam-bowling all-rounder.

Harpreet Singh, the son of a small-time garment trader, is built like a tank, well over six feet tall and not a hint of fat on broad shoulders and thick arms. But as is so often the case with giants, he’s gentle. While he hasn’t got a chance to bat yet in this tournament, Harpreet has bowled some very useful overs of medium-pace, often surprising batsmen with a lack of pace. “I’m a middle order batsman so my role really comes into play in crunch situations and when the team has lost early wickets,” says Harpreet, who bats at No. 5. “In any situation, I have to finish the game.

In bowling, I have to give the captain some control, bowling three-four tight overs.”

Harpreet is being unnecessarily modest, for in these conditions, he’s worth more than four overs. Bowling just short of a driving length, he gets the ball to wobble in the air and move off the pitch, albeit not at great pace.

While the left-hand batsman in him idolises Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir, the right-arm seamer, doubling up as an allrounder, keeps a close watch on Australia’s Shane Watson. “I just like to see how he goes about his job, his mental approach,” says Harpreet. “He has to balance batting and bowling responsibilities.”

He does not quite realise it yet, but Harpreet is a lynchpin in this team.

The overs he provides allows the team the luxury of playing an extra batsman, and his batting means there’s space to carry the odd specialist bowler who doesn’t contribute too much in other departments.

Off the field, too, Harpreet is in much demand as his Sunny Deol impressions keep the team in splits whenever they’re trying to keep things light.

But on the field, things aren’t going to be light any more. After successful outings against Afghanistan and Hong Kong sealed a place in the next round, a win against England will ensure India top their group. This will mean they play West Indies, rather than Pakistan, in the quarterfinals.

“We do feel like the real tournament is beginning now. This is the talk among the boys at the moment,” says Harpreet. “We keep talking about these things and try to take it just one match at a time.”

Each match is a small step for the team, but a giant leap for the all-rounder from Dalli Rajhara.

ExpandCollapse

SPNer

A talented left-arm spinner from Mumbai, Harmeet Singh was one of the few members of the Under-19 squad for the 2010 World Cup in New Zealand with first-class experience. He impressed with 12 wickets in his first two games for Mumbai, including a match-winning 7 for 127 in his debut against Himachal Pradesh. In fact, Harmeet was a keen footballer, before he was encouraged by the former Mumbai left-arm spinner Sanjay Patil to take up cricket. Harmeet is the Indian U-19 team's main spinner, and he compares his action to Bishen Bedi.

ExpandCollapse

SPNer

Under -19 world cup is going on and Both of them are in Indian cricket team.I was so surprised to see 2 visible sikh players playing for under-19 india.Another surprising factor is that none of them is from Punjab

ExpandCollapse

Good to see young Sikh cricketers doing so well in Sikhi Saroop . Obviously none of them is from Punjab where the KES are being shorn like there is no tommorrow . In Punjab Ranji team there is only one player in Sikhi Saroop , in IPL team of course there is NONE .

ExpandCollapse

SPNer

Good to see young Sikh cricketers doing so well in Sikhi Saroop . Obviously none of them is from Punjab where the KES are being shorn like there is no tommorrow . In Punjab Ranji team there is only one player in Sikhi Saroop , in IPL team of course there is NONE .

Click to expand...

There was one in 2009 in Punjab IPL team.A very tall guy .But he was a bench sitter.apart from it I don't think that IPL franchises are picking players which are from state.Recently IPL auction happened and only 3 under 19 players were eligible in which Harmeet was one of them.They asked the teams to take it through lucky draw.When Preity Zinta the owner of Punjab IPL was asked He said no to them though at that time harmeet was available immdiately after that Deccan chargers owners were asked and they picked up Harmeet.So now deccan chargers(Hyderabad) has 3 sardar cricketers.I don't think there is any reason for Punjab people to support Kings 11 Punjab
when forget about sardars mona's from punjab are hardly playing for it.

Share This Page

The Alan Stock Show presents a special Interfaith Forum on Islamic Extremism... In this conversation, Sikh Community is represented by @Tejwant Singh ji, for any question or queries you can post your message in this thread or can direct contact him by clicking his username....

About Us

Our community has been around for many years and pride ourselves on offering unbiased, critical discussion among people of all different backgrounds. We are working every day to make sure our community is one of the best.

Like us on Facebook

Support SPN

The management works very hard to make sure the community is running the best software, best designs, and all the other bells and whistles. We'd really appreciate your support!